I tried something last night, that I will do again and again. I made my own raviolis, from scratch. I remember when I was younger, one of my friend’s moms was second generation Italian-American, and they used to invite me over to make pasta from scratch. We always had so much fun, and the pasta tasted so much better. Sometimes the old ways are the best.
The recipe I used was 2 cups flour, 3 eggs, and a half teaspoon salt. You mix the eggs and salt together, form a little volcano in the flour, and mix the eggs/salt into the flour, working it into dough. I took a rolling pin and rolled the dough to 1/16″ thick (what a workout), and cut out ravioli squares (I use cookie cutters, a jar lid, or just slice it into even squares). When it comes time to put the squares together, put a little water on the edges and press them together.
The filling was ground turkey with garlic, salt, pepper, sweet basil, and mozzarella, and I used the leftover filling with the tomato sauce over the top. The raviolis took 4 minutes to cook, and tasted as good as anything we’ve had at Postrio or some of the finer hotel restaurants here in Vegas.
Rolling out that dough was a nice way to get some of the stress I’ve been having out of my system, and it was truly satisfying to cook a gourmet meal for my family, especially at such a reasonable cost (around $7). I think we really overlook some traditional methods in favor of technology and convenience.
Cooking isn’t the only way we’ve taken on some traditional methods in our house. Mr. MT uses a double-edge safety razor for shaving. Instead of spending large amounts on razor blade cartridges, he spends pennies on double edge safety blades. I’ll let him tell you more about it himself, but the short version is, closer shaves, not breaking out, saving money, and he enjoys his shaves.
Huh? What are these people talking about? Enjoy rolling dough? Enjoy shaving? Are they on drugs?
Just a couple advil for moving stress. The truth is I think these “old school” methods are also ways to take time out for ourselves. I kicked everyone out of the kitchen and played in dough like I was a kid. My husband kicks everyone out of the bathroom and takes some quiet time out for personal grooming.
When was the last time you took time out for yourself? Got in touch with your childhood? Made something with your own two hands that you were proud of?
There is a lot to be gained from taking a step back in time.
